Thursday, January 18, 2007
Goo Chiar Lenh
Hi,
Goo Chiar Lenh money or very low price ?
In Teochew dialect GooChiar means bullock cart, and Lenh means wheel; thus one knows how big a GooChiarLenh is.
In May 2005, when I showed some old friends my new watch telling them that it cost me only five dollars they asked with feigned sarcasm, "Your money bigger than GooChiarLenh, ah ?" This was in respect to the round copper one cent coin used during the British colonial times.
Well, the watch was digital, with large clear colourful LCD numbers and four buttons on both sides for operating the multifarious functions. It was not a Swatch nor a Baby G nor one of those expensive watches, but one which looks great and works great too; it is still accurate today. When it first came on the market it was selling for ten dollars, but the price has dropped to five dollars, and even three for ten dollars at some corners. So, was I pulling my friends' legs ? No, but indeed my money was Goo Chiar Lenh size.
In truth, this watch came from China. While my retirement reward Longines watch cost me eight dollars for a battery replacement, this watch costs less than the battery alone. Thus the vendors do not sell the batteries for these watches; they will replace the watch with another instead of the battery.
It is amazing how the Chinese can produce these watches at these prices. Is it because of their critical mass demand ? Considering their one point three million population and these being disposable watches which life span is that of the battery, it is hard to imagine that they can produce them fast enough. Surely their demand takes good care of their break even cost very easily.
Years ago, I was wondering how the cigarette lighter can be selling for thirty cents each, considering the gas, the flint, and all those parts in the whole unit. Now they are selling them ten for a dollar, or ten cents a piece. By calculation, if the factory produces a million a day and makes one cent each, the company makes ten thousand dollars profit daily. That was the reasoning my friend gave me, about how the cost can be that low, through economies of scale.
And now this quartz watch with its many parts and complicated mechanism sells for three dollars; one can also imagine the profit on a mass scale production basis to satisfy the demand.
These watches are easy to read, even at night, theft resistant, no maintenance, indifferent to careless use and hassle free. When the glass cover of my automatic Seiko watch was damaged, a replacement cost twelve dollars; with this watch I will just buy a new one.
There are many cases of golfers who drove frenetically and frantically back to the club house upon discovering while on their way home that they had left their Rolex watches in the shower room at the club. With watches like these they would not have to, just say goodbye to them instead.
Have a nice day
Ronald
Goo Chiar Lenh money or very low price ?
In Teochew dialect GooChiar means bullock cart, and Lenh means wheel; thus one knows how big a GooChiarLenh is.
In May 2005, when I showed some old friends my new watch telling them that it cost me only five dollars they asked with feigned sarcasm, "Your money bigger than GooChiarLenh, ah ?" This was in respect to the round copper one cent coin used during the British colonial times.
Well, the watch was digital, with large clear colourful LCD numbers and four buttons on both sides for operating the multifarious functions. It was not a Swatch nor a Baby G nor one of those expensive watches, but one which looks great and works great too; it is still accurate today. When it first came on the market it was selling for ten dollars, but the price has dropped to five dollars, and even three for ten dollars at some corners. So, was I pulling my friends' legs ? No, but indeed my money was Goo Chiar Lenh size.
In truth, this watch came from China. While my retirement reward Longines watch cost me eight dollars for a battery replacement, this watch costs less than the battery alone. Thus the vendors do not sell the batteries for these watches; they will replace the watch with another instead of the battery.
It is amazing how the Chinese can produce these watches at these prices. Is it because of their critical mass demand ? Considering their one point three million population and these being disposable watches which life span is that of the battery, it is hard to imagine that they can produce them fast enough. Surely their demand takes good care of their break even cost very easily.
Years ago, I was wondering how the cigarette lighter can be selling for thirty cents each, considering the gas, the flint, and all those parts in the whole unit. Now they are selling them ten for a dollar, or ten cents a piece. By calculation, if the factory produces a million a day and makes one cent each, the company makes ten thousand dollars profit daily. That was the reasoning my friend gave me, about how the cost can be that low, through economies of scale.
And now this quartz watch with its many parts and complicated mechanism sells for three dollars; one can also imagine the profit on a mass scale production basis to satisfy the demand.
These watches are easy to read, even at night, theft resistant, no maintenance, indifferent to careless use and hassle free. When the glass cover of my automatic Seiko watch was damaged, a replacement cost twelve dollars; with this watch I will just buy a new one.
There are many cases of golfers who drove frenetically and frantically back to the club house upon discovering while on their way home that they had left their Rolex watches in the shower room at the club. With watches like these they would not have to, just say goodbye to them instead.
Have a nice day
Ronald
# posted by chunmu @ 5:04 PM 
